Re-electionist Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Wednesday urged the next administration that would win in the May 2022 elections to ensure that the welfare of the country’s teachers would be upheld and prioritized.
Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture, said it is important to boost the morale of teachers as they commit to their role of being frontliners as the country continues to grapple with an education crisis amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Gatchalian, who is seeking a fresh six-year Senate term in the upcoming May 2022 elections, said public school teachers are already overworked and their salary is not commensurate with their additional responsibilities and workload.
“Sa pagtugon natin sa krisis sa sektor ng edukasyon, mahalagang itaguyod natin ang kapakanan ng mga guro at tiyakin nating mataas ang kanilang morale, lalo na’t malaking bahagi sila sa pagkatuto ng mga kabataan (In addressing the education crisis, it’s important that we establish the welfare of our teachers and make sure that their morale is high, especially since they play a huge part in educating our youth),” Gatchalian said.
“Kaya naman dapat maging prayoridad ng susunod na administrasyon ang pangangalaga sa ating mga guro (That’s why the next administration should prioritize the welfare of our teachers),” he added.
A study in 2019 by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) show that public school teachers are burdened with several additional administrative or student support roles, a situation which can affect the quality of teaching.
For instance, the lawmaker said they participate in the implementation of various programs such as mass immunizations, deworming, feeding, and elections, among others.
Gatchalian said that should he win in the upcoming May 2022 senatorial elections, he will seek amendments to the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers or Republic Act No. 4670 and make it more responsive to their present day needs.
He also vowed to press for higher salaries for public school teachers, saying this is long overdue. Gatchalian has proposed to raise the salary of Teacher I from Salary Grade 11 (P25,439) to Salary Grade 13 (P29,798) or Salary Grade 14 (P32,321).
The senator noted that in terms of entry-level salaries, Filipino teachers are already left behind by their peers in other ASEAN countries like Indonesia (P66,099) and Singapore (P60,419).
Gatchalian also said that in seeking amendments to the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers, he will see to it that the government would be able to guarantee the benefits of every public school teachers under the law.
Under the Magna Carta, every public school teacher shall not render more than six hours of actual classroom teaching a day and teachers are entitled to additional compensation for activities outside of their normal duties or in excess of six hours a day of teaching load.
The Magna Carta also provides that public school teachers are entitled to free and compulsory medical examination before taking up teaching.
According to Gatchalian, the government was not able to guarantee these benefits, even as Covid-19 threatened the health and safety of teachers.